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Quivering Life/One
Prologue PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS NOT THE FULL STORY, ONLY PROLOGUE - CH. 3 The battle filled Quiverstar's ears, eyes and all his other senses. Cats let out wordless yowls of fury as BoulderClan warriors dashed over the Thunderpath that acted as a border and separated the long-rival Clans from each other. The silver spotted tabby stared on from his hiding spot in the tall tree, helpless. The patrol is so severely outnumbered! What do we do while the other group gets here? A slight rustling sound in the bushes disturbed his train of thought and the EmberClan leader turned his head to meet Aspenleaf's solemn gaze, waiting for the sign to battle. He could've tail-signed the message, which would be more convenient as no BoulderClan cat would've understood the messages sent between each cat, but it was all prepared. Attack! Now! Quiverstar's tail signal made the other party of cats lunge out of their hiding spots with wordless yowls of fury. "Prey-stealers!" he heard some EmberClan warrior yowl savagely. "Mange-pelts! Get out of our territory!" Quiverstar assessed his surroundings with sharp eyes. The battling cats were too busy and distracted by the fighting and the yowling to notice anything but their enemies. Nimbly, he slid down the trunk of the tree and slipped off silently back to camp. I have to check on the remaining warriors, queens and elders! When he slid through the ivy-and-thorn barrier and into camp, relief washed over him as he saw the camp looking almost as busy and organised as usual. Nowdays, it seemed as if there was some danger pointing at his cats at every turn - that mangy fox could still be lurking around the corner, some fierce Twolegplace cats were bound to attack soon, and now this conflict with BoulderClan. The leader suppressed a sigh as he padded to check on the elders. "Little one!" exclaimed Otterwing in her raspy old voice. The EmberClan leader's mother was frail and old now, and Quiverstar feared that she might hunt with the stars any day soon. "I've heard that there's a battle with BoulderClan going on. Are you okay? - " his mother broke off into a fit of coughing. "I'm fine," he murmured, licking his mother between the ears. "I came back to check on the rest of you." Furretstrike snorted. "As if! Just afraid to get his paws in danger, as far as I know." Quiverstar bit back a snappy retort. To his relief, Smallbush chimed in with his cheerful mew. "It's quite reasonable," the mottled tom meowed, echoing Quiverstar's thoughts. "When you think about it, there's always the fox that attacked the camp a moon ago." "A scrap with a fox would just be the thing to stretch my legs," Leafbreeze grumbled, giving her ruffled pelt a few licks. "I was warrior for such a short while after giving birth to Buzzardcall, Fleetwhisker and Dewynose." The she-cat sighed happily. "They're great warriors, and have fine names, though." Shadestar padded out from the big crack in the rock. He heard loud mews as he passed the nursery, which was supporting the fallen tree nicely with its strong rock structure underneath the soft moss. "I'm gonna be the best warrior ever!" declared Snakekit, one of Daisyfoot's recently born kits. "I'll be super good at hunting and fighting, and even catching fleas!" "No, I am!" squealed Reedkit, the other little tom, pouncing at a crackly fallen leaf. "Just look at my hunter's crouch! RAWR!" The little tabby-and-white kit lowered himself into a crouch, and watching the kits play seemed to shove aside his dismal thoughts. Those little toms will have playmates very soon, he thought fondly, Mallowbeam's kits are due in a moon, if Sandylight is right. Reedkit and Snakekit will be a moon older than them, but at least they won't complain about the nursery being so empty. Quiverstar padded up to the nursery. "That's a very good hunter's crouch," he praised Reedkit, whose eyes doubled in surprise at being addressed by his leader. "Just keep your tail down, and it'll be almost perfect!" "Thanks, Quiverstar!" Reedkit meowed enthusiastically, his tail rocketing right up. "Come on, Snakekit, let's practice together and do what Quiverstar says, so we can be the best hunters in the Clan!" "Okay!" the tabby kit nodded fervently, and both set to work on their hunter's crouch. Quiverstar purred. Just the types of warriors the clan is looking for... Chapter One "Swirly-pelt, swirly-pelt!" Starrykit sighed at Snakekit and Reedkit's mocking jeers. Ever since she could remember, the two littermates had been jeering her for her looks. Daisyfoot and Mallowbeam had tried their best to stop the duo, but whenever they had their backs turned, the two would start jeering and mocking her again. Her littermate, and her most favourite cat in the world, Lavenderkit, felt bad for her and despised Snakekit and Reedkit for acting the way they did. Because of this, the two sisters had grown up very close together, bound to each other like burrs on a pelt. They played together, ate together and slept together. In fact, they were so close that Mallowbeam had said that the two could bring down a whole pack of foxes if they thought alike. As for the jeering? Starrykit had to put up with this for four whole moons. Reedkit and Snakekit were a moon older than them, and would soon be six moons and receive their apprentice names. Which isn't very long to go, thank StarClan. ''All this jeering and taunting had made Starrykit self-conscious and shy, and fed her self-doubt. At one point, she hated herself so much that she was too afraid to utter a single word, all thanks to the bullies, though they had apologised.. and she had forgiven them. ''I lend my forgiveness to everyone, even if they don't deserve it, she thought, suppressing a gusty sigh. "Starrykit! Come and look!" Lavenderkit's excited mew made her spring to her paws and out of her warm moss bed beside Mallowbeam before she even comprehended what her sister had said. Starrykit bounced towards her sister, who was at the enterance of the nursery. Some kind of soft, powdery-looking white stuff was falling from above like tiny feathers drifting down from the cloud-covered sky. "What's this?" Lavenderkit wondered aloud, bending down to give the white stuff a good sniff. Starrykit did the same. "It's all fresh and frozen, like powdery frozen rain!" she exclaimed. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Reedkit and Snakekit roll eyes and withdraw to a corner of the nursery. Starrykit watched intently as her sister stjack a paw in the substance. "it's cold!" the lilac she-kit yowled, withdrawing her paw immediately and vigorously began licking her pad. Almost driven mad with sudden temptation, Starrykit stretched out a paw and lightly brushed the surface of the stuff. She was surprised at how easily the white stuff came apart, and how cold it was. Starrykit looked up at the tiny white flakes falling placidly from the sky. They were clinging to her pelt, and were landing everywhere. "Enjoying your first snow, kits?" Aspenleaf's mew was brimming with affection for his two daughters as they experimented the snow. "So this is snow!" exclaimed Lavenderkit with wonder. "I've always wanted to see what it was like!" "That means leaf-bare is approaching," Starrykit reminded, "and prey and herbs would be scarce for the Clan." Lavenderkit gave a dismissive flick of her tail. "Oh, well, let's play!" The lilac she-kit scooped up a pawful of chilly white snow and tossed it at her sister. "Hey!" yelped Starrykit. A new playful feeling had sparked up inside her, fanning into a large forest fire as she scooped up a pawful of snow and threw it at Lavenderkit with all her might. "I'll get you for that!" The pawful of snow hit Lavenderkit squarely on the side, and her sister let out sportive little growl. "Starrykit! You're not getting away with that!" she piled some snow onto her paw and again threw it at her sister, who barely dodged it as it skimmed her ear-tip. All this time, Starrykit was aware of her father watching them fondly. "I know a game," meowed Aspenleaf, giving his ears a brief flick. "Remember 'Kill the Fox'? It's fun to play on a snowy day, and it'll make you warm." Lavenderkit and Starrykit nodded fervently. "You be fox!" squeaked Lavenderkit, bouncing up and down in a lively manner. "Let him be fox if he wants to," argued Starrykit, though privately she agreed with her sister and wanted Aspenleaf to be fox. Daddy would make a really scary fox! Aspenleaf let out a loving purr. "Okay. I'll be fox." Starrykit watched in wonder as her father fluffed up his fur so that he looked twice his size, and pretended to bristle. "It's a fox!" squealed Lavenderkit, also pretending to bristle. "We have to drive it out!" Starrykit made her look as fierce as she could make herself. "We have to make it go away!" Her sister nodded vigorously. "You attack from that side. Stay away from our camp! Out, out!" she added threateningly to Aspenleaf, who had his teeth bared. He does look scary, Starrykit thought with a hint of reluctance. Then, she hurled herself at her father, batting and pummelling him with sheathed claws. Lavenderkit pretended to rake a paw against his side. Aspenleaf suddenly shrank down and blinked at the kits fearfully. "I surrender! I surrender!" he mewed shakily, pretending to tremble. "Cats are too fierce for me! I'll go away and never return!" "That's good!" mewed Lavenderkit, cuffing her father around the ears. Starrykit sometimes wished she had even an infinitesimal amount of her sister's spirit, so at least she could fight back against the mocking and the teasing. "And stay away, or we'll shred you to pieces!" Aspenleaf gave an amused purr and got to his paws. He gave each kit a warmhearted lick and mewed, "I have to go now, kits. Have fun!" Chapter Two "Here," Lavenderkit mewed, dropping a scrawny vole at Starrykit's paws. "Mallowbeam says not to stay out for too long. There's a snowstorm coming, or so she says." Starrykit's sister shrugged. "Should we sneak out?"Category:Choco’s Fanfiction Category:Fan Fictions